Backlit Wallingford

 

10/22/26 Wallingford neighborhood

When an errand brought me to the Wallingford neighborhood, it gave me an opportunity to take a leaf-peeping walk through some residential streets that I don’t usually see. Although it was only early afternoon, I could tell that the sun was already low in the sky compared to summer. This type of challenging backlit view always calls to me.

Technical note: After complaining yesterday about not liking the ways I’ve been indicating a clear sky with markers, I came up with an obvious solution. The sky is almost always the lightest, brightest part of an outdoor scene; why not leave it paper-white? It’s funny, though: When I deliberately leave a sky white, I’m usually indicating that it was overcast (which it is most of the year), and if it happens to be blue, it’s important to me to color it blue. But all the sharp shadows are doing the job of indicating a clear sky, so I’m good with that.

We're having a phenomenal leaf-peeping season this year!

Tardy with the Sweet Gums

 

10/20/26 Green Lake

For my annual homage, I try to catch the Green Lake sweet gums at their prime. Although I’ve been admiring them on my weekly fitness walks around the lake, I didn’t get around to sketching them until a few days ago – a bit past peak. I stopped at one of my favorite viewpoints across the lake.

Technical notes: I think I’ve only ever sketched these trees with either watercolor pencils or watercolor paints – certainly never markers! As mentioned previously, since I’m all in with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens for the rest of InkTober, I’m not carrying any other color medium but the markers right now. I got a bit twitchy when I started this sketch; I really wanted to use watercolor crayons and pencils, which seem ideal for the colorful blur of distant trees (one of my favorites using watercolor pencils is this one from a nearby spot a year ago). Even though I don’t like the result as much, I did enjoy the challenge of using brush markers. It’s always good not to fall back on the comfy same-ol’, same ol’, especially during InkTober.

So far, my biggest frustration with markers is that I still haven’t found a way to represent a clear sky in a way that I like. I don’t want to make a solid mass of color full of unavoidable marker streaks, but I don’t like this stripey look, either. With clouds present, I like the cartoony look I discovered a coupleof weeks ago. We’ll see if I get enough clear skies during the rest of InkTober to practice again.

“It Gets Complicated”

 

10/19/26 Fresh Flours Bakery, Phinney Ridge neighborhood

I’m pretty sure they had their facts wrong about probate in Washington State, but I didn’t think they would appreciate my jumping into their conversation to correct them.

I did, however, learn all details of the friend’s will and complicating circumstances that the two women were discussing at Fresh Flours as I sketched. I regret that I couldn’t write fast enough to record everything I overheard, but I made a separate image below so that you could read my notes  more easily. 😉

Marker vs. Pencil: Japanese Maple

 

10/17/26 F-C Pitt Artist Brush Pens in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook
(photo reference)

If you look closely at the individual leaves of trees that are turning, you’ll see that most exhibit a gradient range of hues. With tiny Japanese maple leaves, the effect is intensified: As small as they are, each still shows a gradient at varying stages of change. From a distance, the visual effect is that the tree looks like a haze of hues: Optical color mixing at its best. It’s different from foliage consisting of much larger leaves, which tends to appear more like large masses of individual hues.

Dashing out for a quick walk and sketch before the predicted rain, I got caught in a shower. I didn’t sketch, but I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos to use later. (See end of post for some Japanese maples from my walking route. Neighborhood leaf peeping continues!).

I’ve always felt that colored pencils and especially watercolor pencils are among the best media to capture that haze of hues I’m talking about. I needed my InkTober sketch for the day, though, so I pulled out my daily-carry palette of Faber-Castell Pitt Brush Pens. It occurred to me that I had probably never used markers to try to capture the Japanese maple effect: It was an excellent opportunity for the challenge!

The result is above. To avoid the “heavy” look that markers can impart fairly quickly, I used the side of the brush nib to get a more pointillist effect.

10/17/26 Cd'A Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencils in
Hahnemuhle Akademie Aquarell sketchbook (photo reference)

That done, I couldn’t help myself: I got out my pre-InkTober daily-carry palette of watercolor pencils (mostly Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle) and used the same photo reference (at right).

With the help of toothy Hahnemühle paper and a relatively dry waterbrush, it was easy to get that haze of color that looks more “realistic” (and frankly, I do love that look). Although the brush marker version doesn’t capture the haze as well, I think it seems fresher and more animated. At least in this case, it surprises me that I prefer it!

What about you? Let me know your favorite media for capturing Japanese maples!

Sublime Color at the Quad

 

10/18/26 University of Washington Quad

Although the University of Washington Quad cherry trees take center stage every spring when they blossom, they are often overlooked in the fall. It’s still a joy to see their sublime beauty – and just as challenging to sketch it! Elsewhere on campus, more trees and even the ivy clinging to buildings were dressed for autumn. As if that weren’t enough, USk Seattle was once again treated to perfect October weather last Sunday afternoon: A bit chilly and breezy in the shade, but mostly clear skies with sunshine.

Unlike in the spring when it’s mobbed, sketchers had the Quad nearly to themselves. I started there and filled a couple of pages among the cherries (top and below).

Getting chilled from standing in the shade of the huge trees, I moved out to Red Square’s sunshine. The Broken Obelisk sculpture and even the statue of George Washington looked lovely in the mid-afternoon light.

UW Red Square

Uncertain about the weather, we had waited until only a couple of days before the outing to announce it. Despite that, USk Seattle made a strong turnout. We all know our days of great weather are numbered!

This hickory is on fire!

Sublime color in the Quad

Look at that ivy!

Mid-InkTober Change-Up: Pitt Artist Pens

 

Out with the Staedtlers; in with the Pitts

While I was using Staedtler Pigment Arts brush markers, I complained that the only significant flaw in the “Nature Colours” set is insufficient midtones. To suit the way I’ve been choosing palettes lately, I like having a warm and a cool of light, medium and dark tones (this is the same basic principle I started developing at the beginning of the year). While the preselected palette was generally satisfactory for urban sketching in autumn, I missed having a true orange. The light blue was OK as the cool light tone, but it hardly showed up when I used it for sky. Although I carried all 12 of the Staedtler pens in the set, I hardly used the medium blue because it was too dark to use as a midtone, and indigo made a much better dark tone.

With all of that in mind, I pulled out my Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens and picked out a palette to use for the rest of InkTober. The page below from my color journal shows the Staedtler palette at the top, followed by the Pitt colors I auditioned. The bottom row with color numbers is the final palette: a solid range of at least one warm and one cool of each of the three values.

My color journal page where I auditioned Pitt colors; bottom row shows final selection
(medium gray not shown because it's an everyday essential).

My first shot at the new palette and pen set was Friday at Swansons Nursery. It was a bit disorienting at first to have an unfamiliar palette to work with, especially in a location that tends to overwhelm me anyway. The brush tips and ink, however, felt so similar to the Staedtler brush markers that the transition was mostly seamless.

My first try with the new palette at Swansons last Friday

As with the Staedtler palette, it’s not a full rainbow, which is a limitation that I’m really learning from. Despite my own objections, I always (annoyingly) tend toward coloring things as close as possible to “reality.” Lacking the exact hues I see, I’m reminded to look at their values instead – and I can simultaneously kick myself in the rear to stop being so literal about color! Win-win!

In fact, after Friday’s first trial, I’m wondering if I should remove a couple of colors – it almost feels like too many. Although I have the same number of Pitts, some of the Staedtler colors weren’t useful, so I had fewer self-imposed choices.

One purely mechanical issue with Pitt markers is that they are gravity-sensitive: If they stand nib end up in my bag or in a desk cup for a while, the ink will run down to the base, and the pen will be dry until the ink starts flowing again. (The manufacturer recommends that they be stored horizontally.) To begin the month, I’m going to go ahead and carry them upright in my bag as I prefer to do with all my daily-carry materials. The Staedtler markers fared fine that way; we’ll see how the Pitts do. If they start having issues, I may have to resort to a different carry method.

Fabulously Orange at Swansons

 

10/6/26 Swansons Nursery, Blue Ridge neighborhood

Every day of glorious weather in October feels like a gift not to be squandered. On Friday when USk Seattle met at Swansons Nursery, the temp got up to 75! Sunlight on the outdoor displays intensified all the colors, especially the vivid orange pumpkins everywhere.

It took me a while to zero in on a view that didn’t overwhelm me with details. I’ve sketched at Swansons many times (according to my spreadsheet, USk has sketched there more often than any other venue, sometimes more than once a year), and I always feel that way at first. I finally found a pile of pumpkins near the parking lot that seemed manageable (above).

Later I wandered out to an area where huge planters and pots are displayed. I liked the contrast between the large planter shapes and the small details and color in the background (below).

As always in public spaces, I looked around for dogs to sketch, and I found one quietly waiting for his human to finish up her conversation. It was over sooner than I expected, so I didn’t have time to put in the second party!

What a fabulously orange day!